Taming the Bulle Rock
Baltimore Junior Golf Championship
Havre De Grace, MD, March 28th, 2023 — We were back at Bulle Rock for the 2nd Year in a row for the Baltimore Junior Golf Championship. One of the nicest courses in Maryland Bulle Rock features one of, if not the, toughest courses on our 2023 Schedule. Bulle Rock played host to the LPGA from 2005 to 2009. It’s tough course features tons of huge hazards. Let’s dig into the press release below.
Round 1 – Saturday, March 25th — Some tough raining weather was out and about for Round 1.
The most iconic hole out on the course, Hole-18, was the toughest hole for the Boys 15-19 in Round 1. A huge lake on the left side stretches the entire way of this hole. Using the narrow fairway is a huge key to conquering this hole. The large bunker on the right side of the hole does not really come into play. The easiest hole for the Boys 15-19 in Round 1 was the 16th-Hole. Sitting at the 10th-handicap the hole has some surprising medium toughness. However, it does sit at just 314-yards, an easy amount for our hard-hitting Boys 15-19 to take advantage of. The 16th features 7 Bunkers of various sizes, with 5 of those surrounding the green. The dog-leg does try to make the hole play longer but you would need to hit your drive short and way off to the right for the fairway bunker to swallow your ball up. Tyler Kimble a Senior from Westminster, Maryland was able to pick up a Birdie on the hole, taking at least 1 stroke from the rest of the field. After Round 1 it was Jackson Geyer a local from Havre De Grace leading the Division with his +3, 75. Jackson was followed closely behind by a slew of tough competitors featuring Minh Le from Frederick, Maryland, Sam Telljohann from Baldwin, Maryland and Colton Orris from Hershey, Pennsylvania who all shot 78’s.
Hole-18 gets featured again here as the hardest hole for the Boys 10-14. Hole-8 one of the tougher holes on the course gets featured as the easiest hole for the Boys 10-14 in Round 1. Another hole featuring 7 Bunkers, 6 of which sit on the left side. The main goal here is to clear the 2 fairway bunkers either with a long drive or by using your driving accuracy to sit your ball between the two bunkers. Once you have navigated the fairway bunkers successfully aim your approach shot to the right side of the hole. By doing this you can stay away from landing your ball into any sort of trouble. This huge green can be forgiving so giving yourself the opportunity to not have to waste a shot on any hazards is crucial to a good score. Miles Simpson from Takoma Park, Maryland capped off back-to-back Birdies by accomplishing that task on this hole. That Birdie helped fuel Miles to a Round 1 lead for the Division. Miles was followed by Jason Mohap from Nazareth, Pennsylvania who was sitting just 1-stroke behind Miles to start Round 2.
Hole-16 gets featured again as the Girls 14-19 found it to be playing the toughest in Round 1. The Girls found the course to be playing true to its handicap in Round 1. They found that the easiest hole on the course, the Par-3, 17th, was in fact playing the easiest in Round 1. Sitting at just 117-Yards this hole’s yardage does not show its defense. That mainly comes in at the four greenside bunkers, with the main one being the huge one that stretches from the front to the back on the right side. Geneva Merino from York, Pennsylvania was able to stay out of those traps and lead the division with her Par. Cassidy Miksich from Tyrone, Pennsylvania and our Girls 14-19 Player of the Year in 2022 topped the leaderboard after Round 1. Cassidy has been a mainstay on Team West Pennsylvania in our annual Buckeye Cup the past 2 years and her strong play continues to show. Geneva Merino came in just a couple of strokes behind Cassidy for second in the Division in Round 1.
Round 2 – Sunday, March 12th– What a beautiful Spring day that we were welcomed with for Round 2. This is usually the time of year we start to see the weather change from cold and rainy to mild and sunny.
Wow, Hole-18 was playing exceptionally tough throughout the entire tournament and Round 2 was no different. Once Again, the Boys 15-19 struggled on this hole. Only 2 Pars were found on 18 in Round 2 and those came from Minh Le and Michael Valerio. Michael has been a part of The Buckeye Cup the past 2 years representing Team Maryland. The Boys 15-19 absolutely dominated one of the hardest holes on the entire course, Hole-9. Sitting at the 3rd-Handicap this 413-Yard long Par-4 was not match for the Boys 15-19 who were driving the ball extremely well all weekend. The huge dog-leg that sits in the middle of the hole adds about 20-yards of total distance. This is challenging as the hole already plays long. The main key on this hole is once again to watch out for the fairway bunkers. Driving your ball 240+ should carry that right fairway bunker and the majority of our Boys did that with ease. The low scores on the hole were helped from the two Birdies from Bobby Devins from Elkridge, Maryland and Joshua Vendemia from Woodbine, Maryland. Joshua was another Team Maryland participant at last years Buckeye Cup. In the end Jackson Geyer’s experience playing at Bulle Rock led him to his first Champion Flag on BJGT! Jackson led the division with 22 Pars. However, Jackson’s main stat to winning this weekend came from dominating the Front-9. He went an amazing +1 on those holes throughout the tournament, taking a 5-stroke advantage from his nearest competitor. Congratulations on a fantastic tournament Jackson! Trevor Heid continued his extremely strong start to the season by recording back-to-back Runner-Up finishes. Trevor had an absolutely amazing Round 2 tying Jackson’s 75 from Round 1 as the best Round of the weekend. Trevor led the division with 7 Birdies taking advantage of the very small amount of chances that Bulle Rock offers. Also, Trevor’s +3 on the Back-9 out at Bulle
The hardest hole for the Boys 10-14 in Round 2 was the hardest hole on the course, Hole-5. This hole features an absolutely absurd 50-yard dog-leg right in the middle. Navigating this wonky fairway is the hardest part about this brutal hole. The right side opens up the hole but getting over there is extremely difficult. The tee shot on this hole seems to suck balls to the left and the trees and natural lateral penalty area puts a stranglehold on the green. Even if you do play your approach to the right there are two large bunkers sitting to the right of the green waiting to snag any balls that just barely miss their mark. Huge congrats to Jason Mohap who continued his strong tournament and was the only player able to Par this hole. Hole-16 was all over the place in the tournament. Some players found it to be playing the toughest while others found it the easiest like our Boys 10-14. As a Division in Round 2 they owned this hole, taking it below par. Paired together in Round 2 Vyom Shukla from Berwyn, Pennsylvania and Ty Swann from Gambrills, Maryland both made Birdie to really help the group take this below-par. Jason Mohap played a stunning Round 2 and came in as our Champion for the Boys 10-14. Jason had great consistency going leading the Division with 16 Pars. Mixing consistency with awesome power is always a great way to success and that is exactly what Jason did playing the best on the Par-5’s. Jason really locked in down the stretch going on a 7-Hole Bogey-Free-Streak from Holes 5-11 in Round 2. Congratulations on a fantastic first tournament with BJGT and your first Champion trophy flag, Jason! Miles Simpson continues his great start to the 2023 Season taking home the Runner-Up Flag. Miles was a Birdie Machine this weekend leading his Division with 4. As mentioned earlier Miles’ back-to-back Birdies on Holes 7-8 in Round 1 were extremely impressive as we rarely see that from any players. Congratulations on a great start to 2023 and earning yourself the Runner-Up trophy flag Miles!
The Girls 14-19 struggled the most with Hole-15 in Round 2. This is an extremely short Par-5 sitting at just 385-Yards. However, this hole features a separated fairway that makes for a complete right to left action. It can be extremely hard to get to the green in 2, even with its short distance. Playing this hole long on your approach is the way to go with the large green not having any trouble at the back. There are, as we have seen many times out at Bulle Rock, 2 bunkers guarding the left and right sides of the green. Hole-14, one of the easier holes on the course, was playing the easiest for the Girls in Round 2. This hole features 8 bunkers splattered around the hole. There are 3 Fairway bunkers, 2 approach bunkers and 3 Greenside bunkers most of them on the right side. Sitting at just 300-yards this Par-4 is easily takeable if you just stay in the fairway. Thankfully, the fairway is huge and offers you that option. Cassidy Miksich continued her strong showing by leading the Division with a Par on the hole. Cassidy eventually came in as our Champion for the Girls 14-19. Cassidy continues her strong performances from 2022, where she won player of the year, into 2023. She led her division in Par Breakers. She also had the consistency and long ball working throughout the tournament, as we saw earlier this is a great way to win the tournament. Cassidy really sold her Champion position by going on a 4-Hole Bogey-Free-Streak in Round 2 from Holes 8-11. Congratulations to Cassidy on earning her 4th Champion flag on BJGT! Geneva Merino was our Runner-Up. Geneva had excellent accuracy going throughout the tournament leading the Division on the Par-3’s. Congratulations to Geneva on a fantastic tournament!
Thank you to all of our players and spectators for joining us for a really great tournament at a premier course in Maryland. You all battled through some hard Spring weather in Round 1 to be rewarded with some beautiful weather in Round 2. We want to thank the wonderful staff out at Bulle Rock, including head pro Matt Summers, who are always welcome and inviting to junior golfers. Congratulations to intern turned Tournament Director Sean Carey, who ran his first BJGT tournament in his new position. Next stop Twin Lakes for the Washington DC Junior Golf Classic!
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